Florida Mesa Pre-Observation Lesson Planning  

Brenna Travis  1st Grade Teacher November 20, 2019 

Lesson Context 
What are some things about your students’ readiness (academics, social skills, routines, 
self-management) that are influencing your lesson (unit) design?  
 
We have independent work time routines in place during reader’s workshop and have been 
practicing our “stamina” since the beginning of the year. We have also practiced sharing with 
partners and having conversations to explain our thinking. 
 
In our reader’s workshop, we have learned about characters (feelings, character traits, main 
character) and setting (how setting affects events in a story). We have been focusing on fictional 
texts this year, and we will continue to deepen understanding of elements of fiction by retelling 
stories, as well as determining plot.  
 
This class is very social, so I am trying to be intentional about allowing students to have opportunities 
to share and talk, but it meaningful ways that will support their learning. Students will retell their stories 
with partners with the option of tracking their thinking on graphic organizers to help guide them.  
 
What are some special areas/student needs you will need to address?  
 
I may need to review how to determine the main characters and setting in the story with students, in 
order to effectively retell a story. I will also need to review what an event is, and students will discover 
and discuss what makes events “important.”  
 
Goals & Outcomes 
Colorado Academic Standard & Evidence Outcomes: 
 
Reading for All Purposes 
 
1. Comprehending and fluently reading a variety of literary texts are the beginning traits of readers. 
 
A. use key ideas and details to: 
● Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message 
or lesson. (CCSS: RL.1.2) 
● Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details. (CCSS: RL.1.3) 
 
 
As you think about what you know about your students, and the lesson content, what are some key 
learning goals? 
 
I can retell my story with a partner  
 
I can determine the main characters and setting of my story to include in my retell 
 
...so I can use information from pictures and words in the texts to learn more about the characters, 
setting, and plot.  
 
What are some ways these goals integrate with other content learning? 
 
Right now, we are beginning our personal narrative unit. We have completed one personal narrative 
about a “time you got sick” and we are now starting a new topic. Before writing, I have students 
recall what happened at the beginning, middle, and end of their topic. They draw each event on a 
plan and tell their story to a partner before they can begin writing. In our reader’s workshop, students 
will also get to share their stories with a partner, but they have to determine the important events in 
the beginning, middle, and end. We will connect the BME in our personal narratives to the BME in our 
books.  
 
This also connects to our math, because we are working diligently to comprehend math stories. 
Students reread math stories and circle or underline “important” parts to help them understand and 
solve the math story. We will make connections on determining important events in a story with 
determining important parts of math stories.  
 
What are some thinking skills students will need to apply? 
 
Students will use their schema to find the main characters and setting of the story. They will use clues 
and strategies that we have learned such as using the pictures and words to determine who the 
main characters are, and finding the main setting of their books. Students will also need to infer by 
determining the “important” events in a story that they will then share with a partner.  
 
Diagnosis/ Pre-Test 
What information did you use to plan your lesson?  
 
From data collected by conferring with students as well as from graphic organizers, sticky notes, and 
debrief conversations, most students can effectively determine main characters and setting to 
understand more about their stories. We will then be moving on to “retell” of our story, to help us 
synthesize the important events in a story, and help someone else understand the story who has not 
read it yet. This will help deepen comprehension of fictional stories, and then lead us to determining 
the plot of fictional stories.  
 
Indicators of Success 
Given the learning goals, what are some things you expect to see/hear as students are achieving 
them?   
 
I can expect to see students drawing or writing their characters and setting, and showing their 
thinking on a graphic organizer. While conferring with students, I expect to hear “I know this is the 
setting because…”, or “First…. Next…. Last…” to retell the events of their stories. I also expect students 
to use their books to refer back to pictures and parts of the text to show their partner and help them 
explain their stories to a friend. I also expect them to use their schema on “conversations” to help 
guide them when they are talking to their partner, by sharing back and forth. 
 
Given the learning goals, how will you monitor student learning?   
 
I will confer with students during independent work time to get an idea of their understanding and 
extend their thinking individually. I also will allow time for a debrief to give students a chance to share 
their stories with the whole class after they have shared with a partner. I will also have them turn in 
their organizers so I can see the thinking they recorded and determine the next steps for the next 
lessons. We will probably focus on retell for all of next week, and then continue on with plot as we 
return from Thanksgiving Break.  
 
What kinds of assessments will you use to determine student success? 
 
Graphic organizers and individual conferring will be a formative assessment I will use for this lesson. In 
both, they have to draw/write and explain the beginning, middle, end of stories, characters, and 
setting. If students don’t have a solid understanding of any of these elements, I will anticipate a lot of 
struggle. To extend thinking of students who do understand these elements of their stories, I will ask, 
“How do you know these are the most important events in your story to retell?” 
 
Approaches, Strategies, and Resources: 
What are some strategies you’re planning that will both challenge students and support their 
success? 
 
I will challenge students by having them further their thinking by rereading their story to see if they 
can find a problem/solution and sharing that with a partner. This will give them started thinking about 
cause/effect and plot. I am going to try to pair students together who can support each other’s 
learning. 
 
For students who need extra support, I will model through a think aloud to review how to use the 
graphic organizer. I will give them guidance through individual conferring or a catch if I see more 
than 4-5 students struggling with a particular thing. I will also give students opportunities to share as a 
whole class and give feedback to each other about what they could potentially add to their retell 
and what they did well.  
 
What are some ways you’ll ensure high engagement for all students? 
 
I will ensure that students are engaged by making this accessible to everybody. If students do not 
understand how to determine the most important events, they can at least show what they know 
about characters and setting by drawing or writing them in a graphic organizer. If students do 
understand retell, they will practice retelling with a partner. Students get to choose their own books 
and can access determining the characters, and the setting from strategies that we have learned 
from looking at the pictures or reading the text. 
 
We also have specific reader’s workshop structures in place so students are aware of independent 
work time expectations. They will share their work with each other at the end so they will get the 
chance to explain their thinking in a non stressful, engaging way.  
 
What are some resources or materials you/your students will need to support and extend student 
learning? 
 
● Graphic organizers to guide thinking 
● Elements of fiction anchor chart 
● Choice of fictional texts 
● iReady Retell Lesson?- For students who need extra practice 
 
● Notebook for conferring- writing down trends/noticings 
● Fictional text for think aloud 
 
Potential Choice Points and Concerns 
As you anticipate teaching the lesson, what are some points where students might struggle? 
 
Some students may struggle with determining important events in the beginning, middle, and end of 
their stories. Students will sometimes forget to name the characters and the setting of their story while 
they are retelling the story and will need to be reminded to tell the story so that someone who has 
never read it yet can understand it. I can also anticipate that some students will struggle with sharing 
their story with a partner and how to have conversations about their stories with each other. We will 
make an anchor chart about how to ask questions about a story/someone’s retell that can help 
guide each other as they are having a conversation.  
 
What are some options for supporting struggling students and enriching those who need greater 
challenge? 
 
Students will have their choices of books, at their level, and interests to provide them with 
appropriate texts to retell. Students also know that if they are unable to read the text, they can read 
the pictures and infer the characters, setting, and events. Students will also have a choice on how to 
track their thinking by drawing or writing.  
 
For students who need extra support, I will model through a think aloud to review how to use the 
graphic organizer. I will give them guidance through individual conferring or a catch if I see more 
than 4-5 students struggling with a particular thing. I will also review how to determine important 
events. I will choose students for a debrief to model sharing their  
 
I will intentionally pair students with someone they are likely to be successful with, and can help each 
other retell the story.  
 
Should you notice that students’ attention is drifting, what are some possibilities for reengaging them? 
 
If I notice attention is drifting during the mini lesson, I will say “I notice… is doing great because they 
are showing a mindful body and I can tell they are being a respectful listener.” Other strategies I use 
are giving “think time” about a question and having students turn and talk frequently so that they are 
expected to be listening and discussing a certain topic. If I notice students are not understanding the 
lesson or struggling to discuss questions during their turn and talk, I will do a movement break, or give 
students work time and bring them back for a “catch”.   
 
Personal Learning 
 
What are some ways that this lesson provides opportunities to pursue your own learning goals? 
 
I have been working with Julia Kitchen weekly to strengthen my reader’s workshop. One of my goals 
is to focus on higher engagement for all students. One thing that I have focused on is giving flexibility 
(but also consistency) of showing thinking so I can collect more data and allow students to have 
choice in their learning. I will be working on giving students choices in the graphic organizers they use 
and how they demonstrate their learning. I have also worked on building engagement of my 
reader’s workshop by allowing more opportunities for meaningful conversations. I have struggled a 
little bit with this since my class is very talkative and active. Sometimes students can be off task in 
conversations or work time, so I am diligently working on created a guided structure to allow students 
to have conversations, while making them meaningful and on topic.  
 
What new learning/skills will you try or exercise in this lesson? 
 
At this point in the year, working with partners during work time for reader’s workshop is new. We 
have worked hard to build independent reading stamina, but my goal is to create a structure where 
students have the option to work independently or with each other on a task. This is going to be one 
of the first times where students are working together in reader’s workshop. I am going to try to 
gradually release students in partners to retell their stories and then potentially have them work in 
partners again. This is new for me and for the students, so it may not go as planned at first.